{"id":10941,"date":"2022-02-21T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.italianlanguagefoundation.org\/?p=10941"},"modified":"2024-02-19T19:51:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T00:51:47","slug":"thats-amore-discover-valentines-day-italian-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/thats-amore-discover-valentines-day-italian-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"That’s amore, celebrate Love in Italian Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Why is Valentine\u2019s Day celebrated on February 14? Both ancient Christians and Roman traditions celebrated February as the month of love and, more specifically, ancient Romans celebrated <\/span>Lupercalia<\/span><\/i>, a feast in celebration of fertility. The history of San Valentino (Valentine\u2019s Day) goes back to the third century Roman empire, and it is shrouded in mystery<\/strong>. Starting from the Saint himself, we don\u2019t know much about Saint Valentine\u2019s life. He probably was a priest or bishop who lived in Rome in the third century. However, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different Saints named Valentine who died as martyrs. Even today, it is not clear whether these three saints were actually the same person or three different individuals who happened to have the same name and be bishops or priests.<\/span><\/p>

Thanks to the English author, Geoffrey Chaucer, Saint Valentine reached the level of popularity he is now known for. In his book, \u201cThe Canterbury Tales\u201d, Chaucer tells the story of Valentine, the priest who kept performing marriages for young couples, even though they had been forbidden by the Emperor himself. Due to his disobedience, Valentine was sentenced to death, and eventually became a martyr of the Christian Church.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Saint Valentine\u2019s story was first told by Chaucer in the Middle Ages, and still survives today in most Western countries. On the one hand,\u00a0 in Italy, Valentine\u2019s Day has been turning into a so-called \u201cfesta commerciale\u201d, meaning that very few people value its original and most authentic meaning, and the vast majority just takes this opportunity to gift their loved ones with something special. On the other hand, celebrating Valentine\u2019s Day is a fairly recent tradition that Italians seem to enjoy<\/strong>. On this special day, lovers strive to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, meaning both partners, family members and friends, and the gifts have to be innovative rather than predictable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Even though the old fashioned box of chocolate stands the test of time, new ideas have become increasingly popular<\/strong>. The old dates at the restaurant are transitioning into fancy dinners at home or relaxing home spas. <\/span><\/p>

What I\u2019ve been observing is that partners are more willing to gift their significant ones with something unique that steps out of traditional rules<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>

Books, photo albums, cooking classes, video games and customized portraits are becoming more popular, as well as daily trips and yearly membership cards. Young couples don\u2019t do it by the book, they are figuring out the best way to make this Day of Love worth remembering. Flowers never get old, not only on Valentine\u2019s Day, as well as jewelry and perfumes, which are highly advertised in Italy these days.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Italian companies have perceived these changes happening in society and their advertisements are becoming more inclusive and flexible, and less tied to tradition. Their new products reflect new trends among younger generations, but they still remain loyal to the older audience promoting their classic lineups of products<\/strong>. Italians never miss a chance to celebrate the <\/span>amore <\/span><\/i>for family and friends. I wish you <\/span>Buon San Valentino<\/span><\/i> and may you spend this day with your loved ones, whoever they are. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s Amore!Love, Italian Style That\u2019s Amore!Love, Italian Style That\u2019s Amore!Love, Italian Style Why is Valentine\u2019s Day celebrated on February 14? Both ancient Christians and Roman traditions celebrated February as the…Read More <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10941"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11905,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941\/revisions\/11905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italianlanguagefoundation.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}